California Wineries and Solar Power

As Mount Eden winery owner, Jeffery Patterson, discovered,
solar power and wineries go together as nicely as any fine wine / gourmet food
pairing. Mount Eden is the oldest winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
established in the 1940s, and has been operating under the Mount Eden brand
since 1972. Every year the vintner produces 15,000 cases of cabernet sauvignon,
pinot noir and chardonnay from the 40 acres of grapes planted on this 200-acre
property.

Akeena Solar, based in nearby Los Gatos, CA. recently
completed installation of a 25 kilowatt DC-rated ground mounted solar electric
system at Mt. Eden Vineyards. Mr. Patterson said, "From an environmental
point of view, the basic nature of solar power -- plus the combination of
incentives we will receive from the State of California and Federal government,
and from my viewpoint as a businessman, the estimated cost savings over the life
of the system -- made the decision a 'no brainer,' ". Mt. Eden's estimated
savings over the 30-year life of the system is over $445,000, with electricity
costs locked in at 7.7 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The
installation at Mt. Eden was particularly challenging because the best -- and
ultimately only -- mounting location was on a hill sloped to the north. This
constraint required the design and engineering of a reverse sloped mounting
system in order for the entire system to achieve maximum efficiency. The system
consists of 136 solar modules mounted on three different ground mounted racks,
using Sharp 185 modules and 9 Sunnyboy inverters. The entire array is tilted at
20ş angle, with a compass bearing of 175 degrees. Luis Rangel, Akeena Solar's
Director of Engineering said, "The critical factor of the installation was
to achieve the south orientation of the array on a north sloping hill and at the
same time avoid any shading interference between the racks. We accomplished this
by building three large ground mounted racks which increase in height from 1
foot high to 25 feet high."

Wineries are
a natural fit for solar power systems for a variety of reasons. Because wineries
are typically family owned or are long established businesses, their owners have
a longer event horizon than most other commercial operations. At wineries, a
capital expenditure with a 5 to 7 year payback is reasonable, whereas most
commercial businesses require a 2 to 3 year payback. Also, most wineries have
available square footage for ground mounting -- if not usable roof space on
storage or utility buildings. The seasonal nature of winery activity also lends
itself perfectly to solar power and PG&E's Net Metering Program. Most
wineries energy consumption profile goes up in the summer months with a
significant spike in August, September and October, which is harvest and crush
season. This coincides with the time of year when solar power systems are at
their peak production.

The
combination of PG&E's A6 commercial Time Of Use (TOU) rate with a net
metered solar power system made the business proposition, to quote Mr.
Patterson, a "no brainer". On the A6 rate, customers pay a premium per
kilowatt-hour (kwh) between the hours of 12 noon and 6:00 p.m. during the months
of May through October. This is called the seasonal peak rate. During the rest
of the day and year these customers pay about half or less of the peak rate.
Wineries with solar power systems on an A6 rate are able to offset all or the
majority of their most expensive peak power with their own solar produced
electricity.

Intangible benefits of solar power at wineries must also be
factored into the equation. Many vineyards and wineries are in scenic and
environmentally sensitive locations. The green aspects of clean, renewable power
translate into an improved perception of the wine by consumers - thereby
increasing winery visibility and sales. Moreover, these benefits can be directly
conveyed to consumers when incorporated in a real time web-based data
acquisition system. Mount Eden's customers and partners can directly see how
their system is performing by going to http://www.akeena.net/monitor/mteden/.

The
sun has always been growing the grapes for California wineries. Now, with
cost-effective solar electric systems, the sun can grow their bottom line, too.

For more information about the applications of solar power
to wineries contact Akeena Solar, info@akeena.net
or 408-395-7774

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